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Altered drug metabolism during pregnancy

Medication use in pregnancy is prevalent due to pre-existing medical conditions or newly developing disorders. This unavoidable drug treatment requires accurate pharmacokinetic information because under- or over-exposure may result in detrimental clinical outcomes not only to the mother, but also to the fetus. Limited clinical evidence suggests that pharmacokinetic profiles of drugs are altered during pregnancy. Specifically, metabolic pathway-dependent changes have been reported for hepatic drug metabolism during pregnancy. Jeong lab is interested in identifying factors responsible for altered drug metabolism and elucidating the underlying molecular mechanisms (funded by NICHD R01).

Personalized medicine for CYP2D6 substrates

CYP2D6 is a major drug-metabolizing enzyme, responsible for metabolizing ~20% of marketed drugs. CYP2D6-mediated drug metabolism exhibits very large inter-individual variability. While this can be explained in part by genetic polymorphisms of CYP2D6 gene, large portion of the variability remains unexplained. Jeong lab has been trying to better understand transcriptional regulation of CYP2D6. Based on accumulating data, we are in the process of identifying novel factors leading to CYP2D6 variability (in healthy human liver tissues) and elucidating the molecular mechanisms (funded by NIGMS R01).

"Druggability" of drug candidates

Preclinical characterization of pharmacokinetics of a drug candidate is essential in drug development processes. Jeong lab provides our expertise in preclinical pharmacokinetics for development of antiviral and antibiotic agents (funded by NIAID R37, PI: Arun Ghosh at Purdue University).

Role of gut microbiota in drug elimination and toxicity

Intestines harbor a large number of bacteria that have an enormous capacity to catalyze chemical reactions. Jeong lab's most recent interests are in studying the roles of gut microbiota in determining drug efficacy and toxicity (funded by Chicago Biomedical Consortium).